Nationwide
by 2manycrimeshows
Summary: A case from '98 leads Det. Benson and Stabler to Vegas and its CSI's. Maybe together they can solve these nationspanning murders before the killers move on. What happens in Vegas, doesn't always start there. CSILaw&OrderSVU xover
1. Prologue

**Summary:** **_SVUNUT85_** and **_Augusta_** got bored waiting for new episodes of SVU and CSI. We wondered what would happen if Benson and Stabler met the Las Vegas CSI's? You're about to find out.

**Disclaimer:** We only own Shannon, Jennifer, Tasha, Samantha, the bad guys, and the story line.

**FYI:** For all you CSI fans. Though this does start in New York with SVU, it will be primarily in Las Vegas.

**Prologue:**

_In the criminal justice system sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victim's Unit. These are their stories._

July 1998, Manhattan

Four a.m. wasn't early to Jeff LaBeau. For the past year he'd been up at four every Saturday, out by pier 58, fishing. He never really caught anything, but it did give him time to relax and that was the whole point.

It was on this cool July morning that Jeff saw a beat up, black Volkswagen drive off the end of the pier into the Hudson. He immediately jumped to his feet and dug in his pockets for his phone, almost losing his fishing pole in the process. He was so intent on calling the police that he didn't see a wet suit clad head and shoulders pop out of the water and quietly swim away.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

The bright mid-afternoon sun gleamed off Detective Olivia Benson's sunglasses as she squatted down on the edge of the pier to talk to a diver. Nothing had been found thus far and her partner had yet to arrive, so she turned back to her sole witness.

"Are you sure you saw a car drive off this pier, Mr. Labeau?"

He ran a hand through his messy hat-hair before crossing his arms over his chest. "You think I'd mistake seeing a car drive off into the river?"

"Well, it was still dark at four a.m. and foggy. So you might have been mistaken."

"Trust me Detective; I know a four cylinder Volkswagen when I hear one."

As if on cue, to keep her from taking out her frustration on their sole witness, Detective Elliot Stabler jogged down the pier to meet her.

"What'd I miss?"

Olivia filled him in as he shucked off his coat and rolled up his sleeves to try and beat the oppressive heat.

"And exactly what are we doing here? I doubt this is a special victim's case." Elliot groused.

"Almost everyone else is on holiday for the Fourth."

"Great." He deadpanned.

"Where've you been?" Olivia prodded.

"Dicky closed the toilet lid on his thing…again."

She grimaced. "The kids aren't dealing with the separation too well, are they?"

His only reply was a noncommittal grunt.

Two heads popped out of the water about 30 feet apart, each with raised hands. After a few minutes of conversing with these two, the head of the dive team swam over.

"Seems Tommy and Eric both found what you're looking for."

Both detectives frowned at him.

"There're two cars down there. Each with their own dead body."

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Benson, Stabler, and Munch stood across the two dead bodies from Dr. Melinda Warner, Medical Examiner for the Manhattan Police Department.

Detective John Munch looked at the pale, slightly bloated girls in front of him with a pained expression. "Let me take a wild shot here; they drowned, right?"

"Nope. Christine Century and Julia Anderson were both dead before they ever hit the water."

Elliot's eyes flickered down to the two girls who were no older than his daughter, Maureen. "They were murdered?"

"Broken necks. Some one did a number on them." Warner pulled back the pristine white sheet on Julia's arm. "Bruising on their upper arms and pelvic regions. Definite signs of rape."

Olivia leaned forward with a hopeful expression on her face. "Please tell me you found something."

"Sorry Detective. All he left were hints to his size. And he was a big boy judging by the handprints on their upper arms and the extent of the pelvic bruising. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that Miss Century died at least two weeks before Miss Anderson."

Elliot let out a breath and Olivia pushed a hand through her hair. "Thanks Doc. Call us if you find anything else?"

"No problem."

John leaned towards the good doctor. "Yeah, when're you gonna call me?"

She didn't have to say anything. The look she gave him spoke volumes and John made a beeline for the door.

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"Benson…Hey, Doc. Got something for us?" She listened on her cell for a few seconds and a smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth. "Thanks. You're the best."

Elliot watched as she grabbed her coat and pulled her badge out of her desk. "What's up?"

"Warner found a hair on Julia Anderson. DNA said it belongs to Todd Saxon, her boyfriend."

"Didn't we talk to him?"

"Maybe we just didn't ask the right questions."

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August 1998, Manhattan

Elliot sat up strait and watched as the jury filed back to their seats in the front of the court room. He elbowed Olivia and both sat forward, intent on what was said next.

The judge reviewed the paper in his hands and gave it back to the bailiff to give to the jury foreman. "On the first count of murder in the first degree, how do you find the defendant Todd Saxon?"

"We find the defendant guilty."

"And on the second count of murder in the first degree, how do you find the defendant?"

"We find the defendant guilty as charged."

The judge banged his gavel once on the block. "The guilty party will be remanded until his sentencing date. Court is now dismissed."

They watched the young man break down and cry as he was led away, and Elliot felt a pang of worry twinge in his gut. "Did we do the right thing, Liv?"

"I don't know Elliot. Right now, I just don't know."


	3. Chapter 2

Just wanted to say that most of the credit for this story should go to **_SVUNUT85_** who came up with the idea one day and the basic plot line. All **_Augusta_** had to do was fill in the blanks and come up with a few original characters. So, thanks **_SVUNUT85_**.

**Chapter 2:**

December 2003, Staten Island

Todd Saxon turned up the volume on this television in his hotel room. He'd been a free man for a week now and still found it hard to believe he was finally out. All through his incarceration he kept up his plea of innocence and was on his best behavior. It had paid off. Instead of the full sentence, he'd gotten off with five years.

He laid his head back and enjoyed the sound of freedom. Because of his inattention to his surroundings, Todd didn't realize his window was open and that someone had crawled through and was now pointing a gun at his forehead.

"This is for my little girl."

BANG--

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Olivia stood over the body, impassive. The homicide detective on site was momentarily occupied talking to an officer about something or the other.

"I know it's not a SVU case, but when I recognized the vic's name, I thought you'd like to know." The detective explained.

"Yeah, thanks."

Before she could continue with more mindless chatter, her phone decided to ring. "Benson."

"Hey, Liv."

"Enjoying your day off, Elliot?"

She heard him lean away from the phone and call for Dicky. A few seconds later a large, wet raspberry was blown in her ear.

"That good, huh?"

"Actually, the kids are great. Kathy still hates my guts though."

"Sorry."

"Why are you sorry? It's not your fault. But, as to why I called. Did I hear your message right? Todd Saxon's dead?"

"Yeah. Warner figures it was around two this morning."

"CSU find anything?"

She looked at the plastic bag in her hand. "Slug in the wall. Looks like a .45."

"Any leads?"

"Nope."

"Hey, weren't Christine Century and Julia Anderson's dads jar-head, Navy boys?"

"Elliot…"

"They probably own a couple .45's. We should talk…"

"ELLIOT!"

"What?"

"Turn off the cop and go play with your kids. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Fill me in then?"

"Yes! Now go."

"Bye."

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January 2004, Manhattan

Elliot tossed the thin folder on his desk and slumped in his chair. "This is ridiculous. We should already have David Century and Michael Anderson in lockup for murder."

"Problem is, they both have an alibi." Fin said.

John propped his feet on his desk and looked at his partner over his glasses. "Yeah, each other."

Olivia reached across the two desks and grabbed the folder, dropping it in a box marked 'UNSOLVED' to be placed in the police archives. "I know guys. But we did everything we could."

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Chapter 3 should be up soon. Keep reviewing and we'll try to keep posting.

Oh, and also:

**Csismylove**: Glad to hear there's other fanatics out there like us.

**Jessica Summers**: Patience is a virtue. All will be revealed…eventually.

**MyBella131**: Elliot and Olivia don't actually get to Vegas till Chapter 5.


	4. Chapter 3

Longish chappie. Enter the criminalists. What happens in Vegas isn't exactly going to stay in Vegas.

**Chapter 3:**

_Who are you? Who-who, who-who?_

_Who are you? Who-who, who-who?_

_I really wanna know._

_Who are you? Who?_

_Come on tell me who-a you, you, you,_

_Oh, you!_

February 2005, Las Vegas

"Captain…Captain! CAPTAIN BRASS!"

Captain Jim Brass turned to see 28-year-old rookie, Detective Shannon Martin speed down the hallway and skid to a stop next to him. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a doubled-up ponytail that swayed madly from the sudden lack of movement.

"Whoa, stop. Breath…Now, what?"

"The two-one just called. Said they got a DB just north of Henderson. Someone named Juan Pescado. Primary on the scene said you might want to know."

"CSU on site?"

"Don't know. He didn't say. Hey, didn't you put a guy named Pescado away about 10-12 years ago?"

Brass scowled at the reminder of how old he was. "Yeah, he was a serial rapist. Let's go down to the Geek wing. Grissom probably needs to be dug out of his office."

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CSI Greg Sanders pulled his goggles on top his spiky hair and peered into the microscope in front of him. After a few seconds of twiddling the dials he grinned and turned to lab technician next to him.

"I told you, Mia. It's definitely semen."

Head labratory technician Mia Dickerson gave a lady-like snort, not at all impressed. "You would know."

He rolled his eyes and handed her the slide. "You get to extract the DNA."

Greg caught sight of a very cute, slim brunette walking by the glass windows behind Brass. He gave some lame excuse that barely registered with Mia as she diligently went about her work.

Greg followed them down the hall at a distance, gauging his prey. The young woman looked about his age from the back and had long, black hair; just the way he liked it. She was slender but he could tell she worked out. He watched her intently as her rear swayed down the hall. It was then that Greg saw the gun harness strapped over her fitted shirt and the badge hanging on the hip of her low-riders. She was a cop. Greg grimaced. This was touchy territory, but what the hell, he was always up for a challenge.

Shannon marveled at the hospital cleanliness of the CSI wing of the Las Vegas Police Department. It was so different from the bullpen at the other end of the building. She followed Brass when he turned into a door and immediately blinked. The walls were covered with jars filled with who-knew-what. On the desk was the ever-familiar sight of a mountain of paperwork. Over the door Billy the Bass began to sing and a graying head popped up over the pile of papers.

"Jim?"

"Hey, Gil. Shouldn't you be heading out?"

The CSI Night shift Supervisor, Gil Grissom cocked his head in askance just as the phone rang. "Grissom…hmm…right. I'll have someone out there in about 20 minutes."

Greg stuck his head in the door to try and catch the attention of the young detective and only succeeded in catching Grissom's.

"Greg. Get Sara and head out to Henderson. You can follow Jim."

CSI Sara Sidle, the third person on the night shift's team was still out in the field and Greg reminded his supervisor of that fact.

"Then get Sophia."

"She's got the flu."

Grissom eyed his paperwork and then stood, grabbing his field kit from behind the couch. "Looks like I'm going then."

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At the crime scene Grissom and Brass crouched over the body while Greg took photos and a young officer filled Shannon in on the situation.

"Anything?" Brass asked.

Grissom shook his head in amazement. "Not a thing. No hair, no fibers, fingerprints, or anything. All we've got is this bullet."

Brass smiled wanly. "We chased this guy for four months before we caught him, remember?"

"He always seemed to be just one step ahead of us."

"It cost us three victims before he made one mistake." Brass closed his eyes for a moment, remembering.

"Yes, but we got him in the end." Grissom reassured.

"Too bad someone else got to knock him off. I would've paid good money to have been able to do it myself."

Grissom's only reply was a heavy sigh as Shannon came over with Greg to fill in their supervisors.

"This guy is good, whoever he is." Greg said as he snapped the cap on the lens of his camera.

"According to Trueheart," She hooked a thumb at the young cop, "There's no witness."

"Then who found him?" Brass asked as he stood.

"Parole officer hadn't seen him since he got out a week ago and came calling. When he found the door open he let himself in and found Pescado like this. You find anything Dr. Grissom?"

He tossed the bagged bullet at her and she eyeballed it. "Looks like a .45, maybe. With all the blood and sand coating it, it's hard to tell."

Greg plucked it from her hands and brought it so close to his face his eyes crossed. "Looks like military-issue."

Brass and Grissom both raised an eyebrow at him. He smiled back, his face flushed in embarrassment. "Bobby D's giving me a crash course in ammunition."

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Shannon sat across Brass' desk from him as she flipped through the small Pescado file while Brass sipped at the brine that the LVPD considered coffee.

"I just finished talking to Diana…"

"Who?" Brass interjected.

"Our new lawyer, Diana Forbes. You know…the tall blond with the attitude? Anyway, I just talked to her about the case and she said she'd heard about one very similar to this in New York about a year or two back. I was thinking that maybe you could e-mail them and see if there's something they did that we missed."

"Why me?"

"Well, you're a captain. They'll probably listen to you."

"How about **_you_** get on the national database and **_you_** look up this case and then e-mail the NYPD."

"Why me?"

"Because, like you said, I'm a captain and you're a detective."

"I hate being low-man-on-the-totem-pole." Shannon groused as she headed out.

A half hour later she sat in front of a computer, nine files open in front of her. Her green eyes widened as she studied each. All had similar MO's and the victims' backgrounds were nearly identical. Her long slim fingers practically flew over the keyboard as she sent e-mails across the country to Arizona and Illinois and even as far as New Jersey and New York.

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**Jessica Summers**: Join the club.

**Lanna-Nailo**: Hey, another reviewer. Cool and thanks.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Manhattan

Captain Donald Cragen wandered out of his office as he read from a sheaf of papers. He stopped Elliot as he headed for the coffee maker.

"Elliot, you and Olivia were primaries on the Saxon case, right?"

"Not exactly. We partnered up with Green and Brisco in Homicide. Why?"

Cragen perched on the corner of the other man's desk, not taking his eyes off the paper in front of him.

"I received an e-mail from a detective in Las Vegas about a half-hour ago. You might want to see it."

Elliot scanned it and then handed the paper to Olivia. "Is this a joke?"

"No joke." Cragen said as handed more papers to Elliot. "You should look at this, too."

He skimmed the meager amount of paper that obviously made up a police report. His brow wrinkled into a frown and went to hand the report back to Cragen. "Why are you showing me the Saxon case?"

His captain pointed to something on the top of the page as he pushed it back towards Elliot. "Oh, but it's not the Saxon case. This is the Hand case from October of 2004."

Olivia thought for a second. "I don't remember that case."

"You shouldn't. Lee Hand was killed in Texas."

Elliot's eyebrows went up as he reread the file. "This is almost a duplicate of the Saxon case."

"And that's not all." Cragen handed out eight more reports not including the Saxon case, each eerily similar to the first.

Detective John Munch looked up from one of the files. "You're telling me we've got a nationwide serial on our hands?"

Detective Fin Tutuola leaned over John's shoulder to better see the file. "Seems to me this guy's doin' us a favor killin' all these rapists."

"Much as I agree with you," Cragen said, "murder is still a crime and crime is our business. Detective Martin e-mailed me asking for any help we can give her and I intend to do just that."

"So, you're probably gonna want us to pull those files for you." Olivia said.

"And after that, you and Elliot can pack. You're going to Vegas."

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At 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Olivia and Elliot left Kennedy Airport for McCarran Airport in Las Vegas.

6:00 p.m. Central Standard Time found Detective Tasha Alexander and Lieutenant Jen Linn leaving the O'Hare Airport in Chicago, Illinois for McCarran Airport, too.

At 6:00 p.m. Central Standard Time Detective Sam Tracy climbed into a beat up, red Chevy S-10 in Houston, Texas and also headed out for Las Vegas.

Over in Las Vegas, Nevada, 4:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, Swing shift had just started and CSI Warrick Brown and CSI Nick Stokes sat at the break room table awaiting CSI Swing shift Supervisor Catherine Willows. While not 15 miles away D'Angelo Thesa stared down the barrel of a .45 semi-automatic handgun.

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Lanna-Nailo: Thanks. 

**Shankahand55**: Why not? Doubt you could do any worse than us.


	6. Chapter 5

Now it's time to officially meet everyone. Reviews are always welcome.

**Chapter 5:**

9:00 p.m., Las Vegas

Shannon stood over yet another dead body.

Not half an hour ago she'd been at the other end of town waiting at the airport for the detectives from New York and Chicago. The Chicago detectives were to arrive at least two hours previous but their flight had been rerouted and had arrived about the same time as the New York detectives.

Catherine stood at the scene with her hands in her pockets, a frustrated frown on her face. "What're we waiting for? Why can't we process the scene yet?"

Grissom meandered over in her general direction and handed over a cup of steaming coffee. "Were waiting for the on-scene officers to clear the site and the detectives from Texas."

"Wasn't that new detective…Sharon…"

"Shannon Martin." Grissom put in.

"Yeah. Wasn't she supposed to pick them up at the airport too?"

"No. They're supposed to arrive by car. Brass got a call a while back. Said Detectives Sam Tracy and Tess Koil are supposed to be in here in about…oh, the next 10-15 minutes."

Just about the time the officers cleared the scene, Catherine and Grissom turned at the sound of an engine rumble to see an old S-10 pull up to the crime tape. A short blond hopped out and started to argue with an officer as she fumbled around for something when he wouldn't let her past the crime scene tape.

Grissom moved to intercept and caught the end of her tirade as she flashed her badge. "I told you, I'm Texas PD. I need to speak to Dr. Gil Grissom."

"I'm Gil Grissom. You must be Detective Koil."

"Naw," She drawled in a thick southern accent. "I'm Tracy. Tess couldn't make it. 'Bout ready to pop she's so pregnant."

Grissom frowned. "You're Detective Sam Tracy?"

"Of course." Then she started to giggle. "Oh, you musta thought I was a guy since my Cap'n called me 'Sam'. It's short fer Samantha."

Grissom gave a worried blush and Sam laughed harder. "Don't worry. I get that all the time."

Catherine stomped over and glared Sam down. "Where's your partner? We need to process this scene."

"Well, ain't she just a ray of sunshine."

"You'll get used to her."

"Not in the time I'm gonna be here."

Grissom and Sam made their way over and introductions were passed around.

Elliot felt like the odd man out being the only out-of-town male detective.

Lieutenant Jennifer Linn reminded him a bit of Munch. A bit too much, actually. She had a sarcastic streak in her a mile wide. She was tall with piercing blue eyes and short graying hair that stuck up in spikes around a pair of dark sunglasses perched on her head. She was 45 but didn't act it with her sharp wit and laid-back look.

Her partner, Detective Tasha Alexander was almost her exact opposite. Short with long black hair and hazel eyes. The obvious Public Relations expert, she'd sent the press of the premises content with the lack of information she'd given them. All of 22, she carried herself like a seasoned detective. Her twin-set was professional and her wedding ring kept all the ogling men at bay. Elliot had warmed up to her immediately when she mentioned her daughter, Maria.

The detective from Texas was a-whole-nother story. She had no problem standing up to the Crime Scene Unit's Assistant Director, Icky, or something. Ecklie, Conrad Ecklie; that was it. Everyone on site silently cheered her on when she told the sleaze-ball to 'go stuff it up a coon-dog's ass'. As soon as she'd arrived she'd started asking questions with alacrity, tipping her cowboy hat back to better look up at everyone's faces since she was only about 5'4".

Olivia had taken Shannon under her wing as soon as the younger woman opened her mouth. Not one to mince words, Shannon Martin got right to the point. She and Olivia compared notes on the cases and hair tips like they'd worked together for years instead of mere minutes.

As soon as Catherine and Grissom claimed the site was almost exactly the same as all the others, everyone groaned and trooped back to their respective vehicles, knowing there was nothing more they could do there.

So, they all tried to settle in the CSI break room, but to no avail. There just weren't enough seats.

That is, until Brass said something. "We could always go to the basement."

Grissom and Catherine both turned to look at the other man. "We have a basement?"

Nick and Warick nodded eagerly. "Yeah, completely furnished, too."

"How do you know?" Interrogated Sara.

"They have a huge plasma-screen TV…"

The brunette held up a hand. "Say no more."

As they filed down the steps to the LVPD's spacious basement Ecklie turned slightly to Grissom. "Where's CSI Curtis?"

"Greg said she's taken some sick days. Has the flu or something."

Jennifer suddenly appeared between the two men. "Did you say Curtis? As in Sophia Curtis?"

"Yeah."

"Tall blond with a funky accent?"

"Yes." Ecklie was getting a little perturbed at the questions.

"She used to work in Chicago till she left the precinct. Nice girl, but you might want to keep an eye on her. The last time she took a whole bunch of sick days for the flu she was actually looking for another job."

Conrad's eyebrows went up as he made a bee-line for his office. "I need to catch up on some paperwork."

Grissom let out a sigh. "Thank you."

"For what?" Jen asked as she idly chewed on the earpiece of her sunglasses.

"For getting him off my back."

"It's always a pill when you have an ass on your ass."

Brass let out a snort as they all gathered around a beat up conference table.

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**SVUNUT85**: Okay, okay. To **Munch's GunAngel** and **Alex White**-Thanks for the help.


	7. Chapter 6

The next installment is up.

**Chapter 6:**

Eight hours later the conference table held not only the eleven files but also the remains of four large pizzas and a number of empty containers of Thai food. A large grease board stood nearby with the names Todd Saxon, Theodore Rustovson, Darrell Ashkroft, Martin Keel, Joseph Cranstof, Jerry Smith, Lee Hand, James Godson, William Trist, Juan Pescado, and D'Angelo Thesa. Arrows were drawn here and there, connecting facts and evidence, or lack thereof, to each corpse's name.

Warrick, Nick, Greg, and Jennifer sat in front of the massive plasma TV playing _Need for Speed_. Actually, Nick and Warrick were playing while Greg and Jen yelled out instructions intended to help, but only hindered their progress.

Sara and Olivia stood across a ping-pong table from Shannon and Sam as they batted the little plastic ball back and forth, never breaking the constant flow of discussion.

"I just don't get it." Sara said.

"Wuzzat?" Sam asked as she smacked the ping-pong ball.

"The lack of evidence. There's nothing at the scene but the bullet and the victim."

Olivia volleyed it back with deadly accuracy. "Our CSU had the same problem back in New York."

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." Grissom said from the table."

Catherine looked over at him from her perch on the arm of the couch near the ping-pong table. "Well, that helps us a lot. Who said that anyway?"

"John Adams."

On the same couch Brass laid, his head pillowed on one of the arms, snoring softly. He hadn't slept for almost 26 hours so everyone allowed him this small luxury.

Elliot stood in front of the grease board half-heartedly writing down more evidence as Tasha helped Grissom try to find some piece of information that they might have missed.

Back at the ping-pong game Shannon reached a long arm over Sam's blond head and sent the ball spinning to the far corner of the table where it then bounced towards the PS2 and hit the power button with just enough force to shut the platform off. A groan came from the four around the TV as Ecklie led one Lindsey Willows by the elbow down the stairs.

Ecklie grinned evilly as if he'd caught them in the middle of some heinous act and was going to tattle on them. "Did I miss something?"

"Yeah, about eight hours of research on these cases." Tasha said as she frisbeed an empty folder at him and watched as it glanced off his thinning dome.

He scowled and handed Lindsey over to Catherine. "I think this belongs to you."

"Lindsey? What are you doing here?" Her mom asked.

"Grandma had to go home." She answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"So you walked all the way here?"

"Of course not **_Mother_**." Lindsey said as she rolled her eyes.

A wad of paper bounced off her head a second later. She looked around but couldn't find the guilty party.

"I took the monorail here. Do I **_look_** stupid?" Lindsey said as another piece of paper bopped her on the head.

She spun with her fists up, ready to pummel the culprit. Olivia, who'd been standing behind her suddenly grabbed the girl's upraised fist, gave a quick twist, and applied a light pressure to the outer aspect of her elbow.

"Whoa! Watch it there girl. No need to go all **_Carrie_** on us."

Lindsey tried to jerk her arm away but only ended up having her elbow bend back a bit further.

"Lay off the attitude girl. There's no reason for this." Olivia resolved.

It took a second but Lindsey finally relaxed and Olivia let go of her arm. Grissom, not liking the tension between the two did a very un-Grissom-like thing and stepped in the middle of the fray.

"Lindsey, would you do me a favor and check on Fluffy? I think I forgot that today was the day to feed her."

"No problem Uncle Gil." Lindsey quickly took the out offered and headed upstairs.

"Fluffy?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"My tarantula."

"You have a tarantula? Cool!" And with that, Jen headed up the stairs behind Lindsey.

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Jen actually wasn't as excited as she'd made herself seem down in the basement. She did think it was neat that Grissom had a spider but she had two of her own tarantulas back home. Which reminded her, she needed to call her younger brother and make sure he fed them.

But, the justification for her seemed enthusiasm about the spider was merely a reason to follow Lindsey. When the young girl had walked by earlier Jen had caught a hint of a familiar odor about her and she had every intention of interrogating the 13-year-old.

Inside the office Jen found Lindsey reading a set of instructions taped to the side of Fluffy's aquarium before reaching into another nearby and pulling out half-a-dozen live crickets.

Jen caught a whiff of Lindsey as she passed behind her and gently shook her head. She made her way to an aquarium containing a young iguana. Another one of Grissom's newly acquired pets, according to Catherine. She leaned over to better look at the lizard through the grate on top and pulled a face.

"Gah! When's the last time Grissom cleaned this cage? It reeks!"

Lindsey sidled up next to her and tentatively sniffed the enclosure. "I don't smell anything."

"You wouldn't."

"And why's that?"

"The capillaries in your nose are so dilated your sense of smell is next to nil."

Lindsey brought her empty hand to her nose. "Why would the capillaries in my nose be dilated?"

"Simple, my dear. You've been smoking and marijuana by the smell of it." Jen replied as she bent her head to sniff Lindsey's hair.

The girl turned away and dumped the crickets in Fluffy's aquarium. "I don't smoke."

"Look me in the eye and tell me that."

Lindsey looked her strait in the eyes with a serious face. "I. Don't. Smoke. Period!"

"Your eyes say yes while your mouth says no."

"What?"

"You have all the signs of recently smoking a blunt. You can't smell anything. Your eyes are glassy and your pupils dilated. And I can smell the smoke in your hair. Your mouth probably feels like it's full of cotton, too."

Lindsey scowled at her. Jen reached into her back pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar.

"Thought you might want this."

"What for?"

"Munchies, duh!" Jen said as she wiggled the candy in front of the girl.

She eyed it for a second before grabbing it and dropping it in her purse. Then, she thought better of it and opened it and took a big bite.

"You won't tell Mom, will you?" She mumbled around the mouthful.

"I won't, but I can't say the same for my partner." Jen said as she ran a hand through her graying hair.

Lindsey started. "How does she know?"

"She's a detective. She's paid to notice stuff like this."

"Mom hasn't." Lindsey smirked.

"Your mother's in denial. She doesn't want to admit her little girl is a pot-head."

"I'm not a stoner. I've only done it once or twice."

"And you will again unless someone sticks their nose in your business."

Lindsey sighed and gazed down at the half-eaten chocolate bar. Jen gently patted her shoulder.

"Come on. It's probably time to go face the firing squad."


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Down in the basement a similar conversation (more like confrontation) was taking place, depending on how you looked at it. Catherine and Tasha were verbally duking it out. They were loud enough to actually wake Brass up who now stood with Olivia and Shannon on the other side of the ping-pong table, away from the volatile women. Nick and Warrick had wisely turned the PS2 back on and were completely immersed in another race.

Catherine's ire was up and she was in full fighting form. "Why were you throwing paper at Lindsey? And where do you get off saying my daughter does drugs?"

Tasha was ready to defend herself. "Oh, come off it! Are you blind? Her eyes are dilated and glassy. She's riding high on her emotions. I mean, she smells of pot. What do you need? A written affidavit from her saying she's smoked a little weed?"

"She'd tell me if she…she was…was…"

"Jay-sus, are you in denial or somethin'?" Sam jumped in.

Catherine stood with her arms akimbo. "Say that to my face."

Sam stood, threw her hat on the couch, and tried to stand nose to nose with Catherine. Unfortunately, her nose just brushed the criminologist's chin.

"Damn, I hate bein' short!" She exclaimed as she rose up on her toes to look Catherine in the eye.

Catherine smirked at the shorter woman. "I thought they grew everything bigger in Texas."

Sam smirked back at her. "And I thought they grew 'em prettier out here in Vegas. Guess I was wrong."

Catherine was about to retort when Lindsey came back down the stairs with Jen not far behind. The girl stuffed the rest of the chocolate bar in her mouth and looked from woman to woman.

"What's going on?"

Catherine pointed at Tasha and Sam and opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

Tasha turned to Lindsey. "We know you smoked pot before you came here so just 'fess up."

Lindsey looked back at Jen who just shrugged her shoulders and gave her an 'I tried to tell you' look. She scuffed a toe on the concrete floor. "Mom, I…"

Catherine grabbed her shoulders. "Please don't tell me you did."

"Okay, I won't."

"But why?"

"Because…"

"That's not an answer."

"Because…It helped me forget about what happened to Dad!"

Catherine wrapped her arms around her daughter and Grissom laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Go home. We can handle this."

"You sure?"

Sara tossed Lindsey's jacket at her. "Shift's over anyway."

"Nothing's come in and all we're gonna do is sit down here and work on these cases." Nick said as he propped his chin on Sara's shoulder.

Catherine and Lindsey made their way out of the basement. Greg stuck his hands in his pockets and yawned hugely.

"You mind if I go home too?"

Grissom shook his head and waved a hand in dismissal. "Whoever wants to go home can. I'm going to catch a few Z's in my office and then I'm back down here."

"Well I'm staying thanks to those few hours on the couch. You can go if you want to Martin." Brass said.

Shannon stretched and linked her fingers behind her head. "I'll be in the crib if you need me. I'll keep my phone on."

Sam grabbed her cowboy hat and ran after the brunette. "Wait fer me! I don't know where yer crib is."

Olivia sauntered along with Elliot and Tasha trailing behind. Sara, Brass, and Jen all settled around the table each picking up a folder, not really wanting to go through the cases yet again while Nick and Warrick continued to play their game.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

Catherine lay sleeping, face down on her bed until she was rudely awakened by an annoying ringing. She slapped at her alarm clock, but that didn't work. So, she reached in the drawer just beneath it and pulled out her cell.

"Willows…What…you have got to be kidding Gil. It's…" She looked at her clock. "…not even after noon. Don't you ever sleep?"

She suddenly sat up in bed, wide awake at what he said next. "I'll be there ASAP."

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Tasha made her way down the rocky embankment. The dry streambed shimmered as the hot Nevada sun threw down wave upon wave of heat. She slipped on a pair of dark sunglasses as she came to stand next to Shannon.

"You just have all the luck, don't you?"

Shannon made a face. She'd gone out to get breakfast with Greg for the rest of the crew minus Catherine and Warrick, who'd gone home long ago, when the call had come in about a dead body just outside of town. The description of the body caught their attention and she and Greg were close to the area specified and sped through traffic to contain the scene. It wasn't hard to find. They just had to follow the buzzards.

Tasha handed a manila folder that she'd brought with her to Greg, who was on the phone calling in the rest of the swing shift as per Grissom's orders.

Sara was bent over the body, studying the small, perfectly round hole that now graced John Anthony's forehead. Assistant Coroner David Phillips crouched on the other side of the body, pawed through what the vultures had left of his innards, and stuck a thermometer in the dead man's liver.

"Temperature say's he's been dead for about eight hours, give or take a few with this heat. Can't be sure, but rigor and lividity correspond." The bespectacled young man said.

Olivia rolled up the sleeves of her shirt and wiped the perspiration off her face. "This is ridiculous. It's the first week of March and it's almost 90 degrees out here."

Grissom gave her a puzzled look after glancing at his own long-sleeved black shirt and pants. Then he smiled slightly.

"Sorry. I forgot you New Yorkers don't get weather like this till mid-summer." He turned to David and Sara. "Help me roll him over. If he's like the others, there should be a bullet."

Greg and Shannon had secured the scene about half-an-hour ago and had searched a five meter radius around the body for anything incriminating and found nothing other than rocks, wilted plant life, and more rocks.

Catherine arrived on scene just in time to see Grissom hold up bloody bullet in a pair of tweezers that he pulled from the gravel under the corpse's head. She knelt next to the older man.

"He like the others?"

Grissom nodded silently as Sara swiped the folder from Greg and sat back on her heels. "Says here he was released from Las Vegas Correctional Facility just last week. Convicted murderer. Multiple rapes on his rap sheet. Got a child abuse charge too. I'd say we've got another one."

"Wonderful." Jen said as she came up behind Tasha and peered over the shorter woman's shoulder.

She sniffed the air and looked north towards the mountains. "Can we wrap this up soon? It's gonna rain quick-like."

"It's not supposed to rain. Weather channel said it's supposed to be sunny and a high of 94 today." Came Shannon's 'all-knowing' voice.

"Tell that to Mother Nature. There's a huge front rollin' in fast from the north and you can smell the ozone in the air. I'd just like to finish up before the rain ruins the scene." Was Jen's only reply.

Olivia looked north as a downdraft whipped through her short locks. "There's nothing else here, right?"

Shannon, Greg, Grissom, and Sara all shook their heads.

"Then I suggest we take Jen's advice before we drown." Olivia said as fat wet drops began to splatter around the team.

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Warrick scrubbed the water from his hair as he descended the steps to the basement. In Vegas, when it rained, which wasn't very often, it poured. Almost everyone was seated at the table as Grissom added the name John Anthony to the list on the grease board.

Warrick threw his drenched jacket on the ping-pong table along with everyone else's as he sprawled in his seat. "So, what're we waiting for?"

"Sara went to go get Elliot, Sam, and Nick. They were all taking a nap in the crib." Came Greg's reply.

Olivia stretched and grinned. "No sleep for us wicked people."

No sooner had she said this, Ecklie stormed down the stairs from the CSI wing and threw a handful of papers on the table. "What's taking you so long? You should have this guy behind bars with all of you here!"

Grissom calmly folded his hands over his stomach and looked over the top of his glasses. "What would you have me do Conrad? Send a message to the killer asking him to kindly turn himself in so Sheriff Atwater will get off your back. We can only do so much with what little he's left us."

Greg snickered but quickly covered it up when Ecklie glared at him as Elliot and Sara descended the stairs.

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A few minutes earlier…

Sam, Elliot, and Nick accompanied Sara through the bullpen to the stairs that led to the basement, all three barely awake yet.

Elliot stuck his hands on the middle of his back and leaned back to stretch it out. "Three hours just ain't gonna cut it. This better be important."

"We've got another body." Was all Sara said as she stuck her hands in her pockets and strolled along.

Sam walked a bit behind them with Nick as he regaled her with a story about the Assistant Director of the CSU.

"So, get this. Ecklie decides to show up at this raid cause the press are swarmin' like flies. I was there with Sara so we could search the place after the Narcotic's cops cleaned it out. As they're leadin' Valejo out with his goons this bloodhound goes nuts and escapes from his owner and body slams Ecklie. And Ecklie has already got this huge fear of dogs."

Sam shook her head trying not to laugh. "Did it try to go to town on his leg?"

"Naw. It just knocked him down and stood on his chest barkin' like crazy. I guess it didn't like his cologne."

Sam couldn't hold it in any longer and snorted out a laugh. They were halfway down the stairs when they heard Ecklie's tirade. She made a great show of patting her jeans pockets down and turned to head back up the stairs.

"I think I left my keys back in the crib. Tell everyone to wait fer me."

Elliot and Sara nodded to her and made their way down the rest of the way to the basement. Nick stayed behind though and went to head upstairs. Sam didn't follow.

"Don't you need to go back to the crib for your keys?"

She smiled evilly and pulled her keys out of her pants. "Actually, I got 'em right here. I just needed to get rid of y'all. You should get down there too. I don't wanna get you in trouble if I get caught."

Nick frowned at her. Sam sighed.

"Don't say I didn't warn ya. Just…stay outta sight."

Nick nodded silently and stayed behind Sam as she crept down the stairs so she was just in the shadows but could see everyone at the table. She leaned close to Nick to whisper to him.

"When I give you the signal run down there and tell everyone that the dogs are loose."

Nick's smile held just a hint of mischief as Sam cupped her hands around her mouth.

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As Ecklie was about to rip into Greg a loud bark came from the direction of the stairs leading to the police bullpen. Ecklie's eyes widened as a second and third bark issued forth. Nick came rushing down the stairs not but a second later.

"The dogs got out of their cages! Did you guys see any of them come through here?"

Everyone shook their heads as another loud bark, closer this time, came from what sounded like the bullpen as Ecklie edged towards the stairs at the other end of the basement.

"Go! Hurry up and catch them. I, um…I have to go talk to the lab. See if they've found anything."

Catherine sat forward in her chair. "Since when did you get so interested in our cases?"

Ecklie scowled at her and made a mad dash up the stairs at the far end.

A moment later Sam came down the stairs at the PD's end of the basement, her hands in her pockets jangling her change.

"Did you get stopped by the dogs?" Sara asked.

"What dogs?" She said innocently.

"The narcotic's dogs got loose up in the bullpen. Didn't you hear them?"

"There was nothin' loose in the bullpen. Are y'all sure yer not hearin' things?"

Warrick looked from her to the stairs to her to the stairs. "Then where're you hidin' that Rottweiler, girl? In that hat of yours?"

Sam just smiled and swept her cowboy hat off her head. She took a bow and plopped in the seat next to Nick. Both smiled maliciously. They'd never tell.

Everyone looked at the two coconspirators and then each other before breaking into gales of laughter.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

Shannon, Catherine, and Grissom had finished briefing everyone about four or five hours ago and Greg now sat in the lab waiting for the toxicology report on the blood Doc Robbins had sent to the lab. He spun on a stool, getting a slight buzz off his lack of equilibrium from the constant rotation. The soft hum of the printer brought him to a halt and he swayed as the room still seemed to spin.

Mia grabbed the paper before Greg even had a chance to stand and sat studying it, her cheek resting on her fist.

"So?"

"Other than his Blood Alcohol Level is three times the legal limit, there's nothing weird." She said as she slid the report across the table.

Greg let out a disappointed sigh. "How about the clothes?"

She tossed a Ziploc bag at him. "Nothing except a little GSR on the back of the shirt."

He pulled the article of clothing out and held it in front of him, studying the outlined pattern of gun-shot residue. "Looks like the killer stuck the gun in Anthony's back before he shoved him into a supine position and shot him in the head."

"Sorry. I know it's not much help."

"Don't worry about it. I know what it's like to not find anything from what they give you. But Bobby D. might be able to tell us what kind of gun the killer used from this muzzle print."

Greg gathered up all the evidence and headed down the hall the to Grissom's office. He always hated being the bearer of bad news.

About halfway there, a banging from the locker room caught his attention. His forehead creased in a frown. All the detectives had been given a list of Anthony's known contacts after the meeting and had teamed up with a few of the CSI's, hoping to find something. Nick, Sara, and Catherine had gone back to the scene in the streambed knowing full well they probably wouldn't find anything after the rain.

He inched his way down the hall towards the noise when a hand on his shoulder startled him. It was Olivia. She, Jen and Sam had come back from jaunt to the Sands, looking for Anthony's dealer and maybe a few answers.

"What's with the stealth-walk Greg?"

He pointed down the hall as another loud bang was heard. "Sounds like someone's beating the crap out of the lockers. I was going to find out who, but I didn't want to get killed in the process."

Olivia smiled grimly; she had an idea of who it might be. "How about we go with you? Strength in numbers and all that."

The three women and Greg quickly made their way to the doorway leading to the lockers and found Elliot with a bloody fist smashed against the side of the lockers.

"Elliot!"

Sam's voice broke his concentration and he immediately pulled his hand back from the dented metal and hid both behind his back. He didn't say anything but just looked at them.

"Uh, dude. What're you doing?" Jen said as she slid her sunglasses to the top her sweaty hair. It was a normal day in Vegas; sweltering hot, and the visiting detectives were suffering.

"Nothing."

Greg's eyebrows went up at the bald-faced lie. "Then what was all that banging we heard?"

He shrugged and Jen reached over and forced his hand from behind his back. His knuckles were swollen and bloody, a blackish-purple bruise beginning to form across them.

"You need to see someone about this."

"It'll be fine. I didn't break anything and I'll just tape it up."

Olivia wrapped a gentle hand around his other wrist and gave it a tug. His other hand came out from behind him, just as bloody as the first. "Fine. We'll just find a first aid kit and clean this up and then I'm going to call Huang."

Elliot wrenched both hands out of the women's grasps and backed up. "I don't need to talk to a shrink and I don't need your help."

Sam took her hat off and slapped it against her thigh. "Great. I just love it when grown men start actin' like five-year-olds."

Greg held the bundles of evidence close to his chest and piped up. "Yeah, man, you're making the species look bad."

A smirk pulled at the corner of Elliot's face before he scowled as Olivia edged closer.

"Listen girls, I'm a lover, not a fighter. Confrontations aren't my thing and I need to talk to Gris." Greg said as he edged towards the door.

Sam plopped her hat back on her head and took some of Greg's load and started to follow him out. "Are y'all sure you can handle this?"

Olivia sighed. "Yeah. This isn't the first time."

Sam simply shook her head and left Jen and Olivia to the problem.

Olivia reached for his hand again and he swatted at it, swinging wide and almost whacking Jen upside the head. She ducked and came up behind Elliot and put him in a Full Nelson. He immediately started to flail.

"Goddamnit! Let me go. I don't need any help and I don't need to talk to no damn psychiatrist. Especially Huang!"

Olivia stuck a finger in his chest and he glared at her as she brought herself nose-to-nose with him. He couldn't get away since Jen still had him in the Full Nelson. Which was amazing in itself, since he was at least four inches taller and easily 50 pounds heavier.

"I know you're pissed about the separation and the case. I know this hits too close to home with you because most of them are child-rapists, but Sam's right. You're starting to act like a belligerent five-year-old."

"I'm not talking to Huang or any other shrink." He growled.

Olivia's phone went off before she could retort. "Benson."

"Hey Liv. It's John. You know where Elliot is?"

"He's right here in front of me. Why?"

"Oh, the twins and George wanted to talk to him and I couldn't reach his cell."

Without even thinking twice Olivia reached into her partner's front pants' pocket and pulled out his phone. She flipped it open and looked at the dark screen.

"No wonder. It's been turned off. Give the phone to Dicky. He can talk to Elliot right now."

She covered the mouth piece and glared at Elliot. "Be nice. Your son wants to talk to you."

He scowled at her more but put a happy tone in his voice as she held the phone to his ear since Jen had yet to let go of him.

"Hey, Dicky. What's up?"

"Nothin'. Uncle John's letting me play on his computer."

"You're at the station?"

"Uh-huh. Kathleen needed to talk to Uncle Fin for her homework and we got to come too. Uncle Don let me have some of his licorice and a donut."

"Your mother's going to love you when you get home."

He heard the phone change hands and the voice raised an octave. "Uncle John let me raid his Twinkie supply. Dad, when are you coming home?"

"Soon Lizzy. How about you give the phone back to Uncle John."

"Sure. Love you."

Olivia took the phone back. "Hey, Munch, get Huang on the line."

She waited a second, explained the problem, and then held the phone out to him and Jen finally released him. He sat heavily on the bench and answered Huang's questions with only monosyllable answers and grunts, clearly not liking the situation. He closed the phone and silently handed it back to her a few minutes later.

"Feel any better?"

"No."

Sam stuck her head in the door. "We okay?"

"For now." Olivia said as she stuck her hands in her pockets.

"I brought the first aid kit." And without saying another word she crouched in front of Elliot and patched up his hands with the speed and efficiency of an EMT and then left.

Jen crossed her arms over her chest. "Get out of here. Go to the gym at the other end of the building, go back to your hotel, hit the shower, or something. I don't want you back here for at least two hours."

Elliot turned his scowl at her.

Jen didn't budge an inch. "Look, I'm a lieutenant and you're a detective. As your superior officer I'm ordering you to leave."

Olivia stood shoulder to shoulder with her. "And as your partner I'm telling you to leave for an hour or two. You need to get out of here Elliot. You're starting to get too attached to the case."

Elliot scrubbed his bandaged hands over his face and through his hair. "Fine. I'll go back to the hotel and catch a nap but then I'm coming right back here."

A smile pulled at the corner of Olivia's mouth. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Call George back, too. He said he had some information that might be pertinent to the case."

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**_SVUNUT85_**: Man that was a long chappie.

**_Augusta_**: We wrote this one as a sort of filler until we come up with the next chappie. We got the idea from an SVU re-run.

**_SVUNUT85_**: Writer's Block sucks. Now that we've given you most of the clues, it's time to put the puzzle together.

_**Augusta** shoves **SVUNUT85** away from the keyboard_.

**_Augusta_**: Watch it or you're going to give away the whole ending!

**_SVUNUT85_**: Spoilsport. Oh, and thanks to all the people who reviewed.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

After Elliot was sent on his way Jen, Sam, Greg, Grissom, Warrick, Shannon, and Brass gathered around the break room's speakerphone as Olivia dialed Huang's office.

"FBI."

"Julie, it's Detective Benson. Is George there?"

"Hey, Olivia. Huang just got in. He's been waiting for you to call. I'll patch you through."

"Huang."

"George, it's Olivia. Elliot said you had some information for us."

They heard the squeak of a chair leaning back and a rustle of papers being flipped through. "I went back and talked to Dr. Warner and got the medical records for the Saxon case. I also talked to a friend of mine, Dr. Robbins…"

Grissom sat forward in his chair. "You know Al?"

"He was a friend of my father's. Long story. Anyhow, I got the reports on Pescado and Thesa and had him zip me the Anthony file."

Warrick looked up from said file. "David just handed that to me five minutes ago. How'd you get it so fast?"

"Connections, my friend, connections."

"So, what'd you find?" Olivia interjected into the banter.

"First thing is; you're looking for two guys."

"What?" Started Greg, Shannon, and Sam.

"How do you figure?" Grissom said as he flipped back through the Saxon case.

"Two different guns. They're both .45's but the rifling's slightly different on some of the bullets found at the crime scenes."

Jen chewed on the earpiece of her sunglasses. "So, are they in cahoots or is it just a coincidence that they're MO's match?"

Sam turned to look at her. "Cahoots? Gawd, you **_are_** old."

"Shut up, Blondie." Jen retorted as she flicked a piece of paper at the younger woman.

Shannon rolled her eyes. "You were saying Dr. Huang?"

"They're working together. Probably providing alibi's for each other. The other thing I was going to tell you is these guys probably have some kind of military training with amount of planning and stealth it took to perform these operations. And there's a good chance they're in the same unit since they're providing alibi's for each other. More than likely they're parents too, considering their victims' backgrounds."

Olivia lightly drummed her fingers on the table. "Thanks, George."

"No problem. I hope what I've given you has narrowed down your suspect list."

"Yeah, if we had a suspect list." Shannon mumbled around the end of a pen stuck in her mouth as Huang hung up.

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Two hours later Grissom, Brass, Warrick, and Greg met Nick and Elliot outside a nearby McDonalds. Elliot looked rested and a little saner. Grissom raised an eyebrow at his bandaged hands. Elliot resolutely stuck them under the picnic table they sat at and turned the conversation to something all six could talk about, namely baseball and the cases.

Nick balled up his latex gloves and made a three-pointer into the trash. "We went back over the whole place and didn't find a thing."

"Yeah, but you didn't expect to find anything at the crime scene either." Warrick pointed out.

Nick took a bite of his burger and thought it over while he chewed. "True, but that don't make it any better."

Brass picked idly at what was left of his fries and watched with amusement as Warrick snatched one and flipped it at Greg's snoozing head. They started snickering when the benign missile got stuck in his spiked hair.

Grissom nudged the young man. "Greg, wake up…Greg."

Greg's reply was muffled since his forehead was pillowed on his arms. "Greg's not here right now. Please leave your name and number after the tone."

Brass took pity on him and laughingly picked the fry out of his fuzzy locks. Elliot started snickering along with Warrick and Nick until something caught his attention.

Grissom noticed his far-off expression. "What's the matter Elliot?"

"I thought I saw someone." He climbed off the bench and headed towards the parking lot. Grissom and Brass weren't far behind.

Elliot walked up to two men and hailed them. "Lieutenant Century! Commander Anderson! What the hell are you doing here?"

Anderson stuck out his hand and heartily shook Elliot's. "We could ask the same of you Detective."

"Work. One of our cases is linked to a Las Vegas one."

Century pulled a face. "We're on recruiting duty now."

"Sounds like fun." Brass said as he stuck his hand out. "Detective Jim Brass. LVPD. I'm working with Detective Stabler. How do you know each other?"

"Benson and I suspected them for a murder two years ago."

Grissom looked shocked and Century just chuckled. "Don't worry Mr.…?"

"Grissom."

"Don't worry about it. We know it wasn't anything personal. We were just the most likely suspects."

"Doesn't help the guy who was shot was the bastard who raped and killed our little girls." Anderson finished.

Century smiled grimly and shook Elliot's hand. "Well, good luck Detective."

Elliot smiled ever so slightly and headed back to the table. After he sat himself down and sipped his water he absently turned to Warrick.

"Did you guys ever call Haung?"

Greg finally picked his head up and rubbed his bleary eyes. "Yeah. He gave us some good information. Would've been great if we actually had some suspects to compare it to."

Brass flipped open a small notebook from inside his jacket. "Said we're actually looking for two killers."

"I had Bobby D. check out the bullets and he confirmed Dr. Huang's analysis. There were two different .45's." Grissom added.

"The good Dr. also said that the suspects are most likely military and parents." Brass said as he flipped the notebook shut and stuck in an inside pocket.

Elliot's eyes glazed over for a second as he thought. Nick leaned over and elbowed him.

"Hey, you got somethin'?"

"Yeah. I think I might actually have the beginnings of a suspect list."


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

Down in the basement the feminine half the investigation team sat enjoying their short reprieve. Catherine and Sara sat at the conference table with Olivia, Tasha, and Jen, finishing up their lunches. Sam sat over on the couch, a notebook open in front of her, doodling away. Shannon leaned over the back examining the artwork with a bored expression.

"You heard anything on Ms. Curtis lately? I mean we've been here, what? Five days, and she's been sick all of them." Jen said after she swallowed the last of her burrito.

"I went and checked her apartment before we came here and she came to the door in a robe with a tissue in her hand and stuffed up red nose." Catherine smirked.

"So she really is sick?"

"I thought so at first, but the rouge all over her nose just didn't seem to fit." Catherine's smirk grew into an evil smile.

"Rouge?" Sara asked.

"Trust me. When you've been in stripping as long as I was you tend to notice when people are faking. She rubbed rouge on the underside of her nose to make it look like she was congested and constantly blowing her nose but I could tell it was make-up."

"I have a feeling she's not going to be part of Night shift for much longer." Sara supplied.

"How's that?" Olivia queried.

"Either she's going to get another job somewhere else, which is no skin off my teeth…"

Tasha giggled. "I didn't know teeth had skin."

Sara threw her wrapper at the detective but couldn't help smiling. "Before I was so **_rudely_** interrupted. Either she's going to leave or Ecklie's going to hire her back as Day shift supervisor."

Shannon looked up from Sam's notebook. "Do you think he actually will? I don't really know the guy. I've only met him like twice, but Ecklie comes off as a guy who only sticks his neck out for himself."

"In most cases that'd be true. But I think he and Sophia have some kind of history." Catherine said.

Sara almost choked on her veggie burrito. "You mean she slept with him? Oh Gawd! That's just sick."

"No. Even Sophia wouldn't lower herself that far. But she was his go-to gal. She did pretty much everything for him. He might feel indebted to her and Ecklie hates owing someone. More than anything he'll offer her a better position so he'll feel he's broken even."

Sam looked up from her drawing and absently rubbed her nose. "I suppose that makes sense, even though the man is nothin' more than a pesky coon rootin' in our business."

She frowned when everyone started chuckling. Olivia vaguely pointed in Sam's direction. "You have pencil lead all over your nose. You look like you've done a little brown-nosing yourself, Sam."

Shannon started giggling as she handed over her compact. Sam rolled her eyes when she looked in the small mirror and headed for the bathroom.

Jen leaned back in her chair. "What's in that notebook that has you so interested, Shannon?"

She handed it over to the older woman who started giggling again and turned it for everyone to see. The whole page was covered with cartoon versions of the detectives and criminologists.

Sara reached for it. "That's so cool. I look cute."

Shannon dropped into the chair next to her. "You should look at some of the pages before that."

Everyone gathered around Sara as she flipped through the sketchbook, oohing, aahing, and giggling some more. They were so intent on it they didn't notice when all the guys trooped in.

"It makes perfect sense." Elliot said as he pulled out his phone. "Does anyone know the number for the Navy post around here?"

Shannon rattled off the phone number without even thinking. Everyone turned to look at her.

"What? I have a friend who's posted there right now. Why do you need it anyway?"

"We need to get information on a Lieutenant David Century and Commander Michael Anderson. They might be involved in this string of murders."

Shannon whipped out her phone and went to hit the speed dial button. "What exactly do you need to know? Dawn knows her way around the data and can get you what you want…within reason."

"Where they've been posted and if it was together, where they've gone to recruit, and where they're supposed to go next." Grissom said.

"I'd say that's within reason." Shannon said as she listened to the phone ring.

She held a short conversation with her friend and asked Brass for the PD's fax number as Sam descended the stairs.

"Hey, Sam, since you're already over there will you head up to the main desk in the bullpen and pick up the fax."

"Uh…yeah. Did I miss somethin'?"

"Just go get the fax, it's important! We'll tell you when you get back."

Sam came back down about ten minutes later reading through the reports. She frowned and tipped her hat back to idly scratch her head.

"I don't get what all this is supposed to tell us." She said as she handed them to Elliot and Brass.

Elliot wiped down the grease board and began jotting down the information on the reports and then the dates of the murders next to it. Sam and the rest watched with fascination as all the murders matched up with the dates Century and Anderson were recruiting in that state except one.

Sara pointed to the board. "Well, that accounts for all but the Saxon case."

"Yeah, Century and Anderson didn't start recruiting duty till after Saxon was killed." Brass handed a paper to her to prove his point.

Grissom propped his chin on his folded hands and gazed thoughtfully at the board. "But, is it enough to bring them in?"

Brass dropped down next to him. "Probably, but it won't hold up in court."

Shannon pulled her phone out again. "How about an expert opinion?"

She flipped it shut not a minute later.

"Who'd you call?" Jen asked.

"Assistant Defense Attorney Diana Forbes. Personal friend of mine and the police department's new ADA. She said she could get here in about fifteen minutes."

The next ten minutes passed quickly as each took a sheet of paper and information practically flew across the table. The only thing that stopped them was a soft knock on the wall near the PD's stairs. They all turned to see a tall, slim blond dressed in simple cotton pantsuit with a pair of black-rimmed glasses over pale blue eyes.

"Diana, that was quick." Shannon said.

The ADA didn't answer back but stared with horror at Elliot and Olivia.

Both of them stared right back at her with equally terrifying looks. "Alex?"

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We don't know how often we'll be able to update after this; school just started this week.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

Shannon looked from Olivia and Elliot, to Alex, to Elliot and Olivia, back to Alex. "Okay, what did I miss? Hope it wasn't important."

Alexandra Cabot now ADA Diana Forbes looked at Olivia and Elliot. "What are you two doing here?"

"Um, Alex, what are **_you_** doing here?" Olivia said as she sat forward.

Shannon turned to Alex. "Diana, why are they calling you Alex?"

Alex walked herself over and flopped down on the couch with a sigh. "Because, that's my real name."

As questions began to fly across the room Olivia, Elliot, and Alex settled everyone with the promise that everything would be answered in due time.

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Due time seemed to mean about half an hour. That's about how long it took the three of them to explain how the two detectives knew Alex from New York and why she had been shipped from there, to Wisconsin, back to New York, and then out to Nevada.

By the time they were done Olivia sat on one side of Alex and Shannon sat on the other thinking she would need consoling. Both were startled as Alex suddenly sat up and spit out an epithet.

"Oh, shit!"

"What?"

"I'm gonna have to move again thanks to you guys."

Grissom propped his chin on his laced fingers. "Do you think you'll be able to help us in the meantime?"

A hint of mischief glinted in her eyes. "Let's get to work."

Olivia looked over at her. "Well let's see if you can help us put some that New York know-how in this case. We need every bit we can get."

Nick put a hand on Sam's shoulder and grinned. "Hey, we Texans take offense to that!"

Sam hooked a thumb at him. "He's the biggest know-it-all of y'all."

Everyone snickered at him.

"Do we have any suspects yet?" Alex asked.

"We have some circumstantial evidence right now. But mostly we're going with my gut. Does that count?" Elliot supplied.

Alex shook her head and grimaced as she held her hand out for the paperwork. She read through it, her brow wrinkling every so often as she checked with the grease board across the table. After a few minutes of pacing and reading she tossed the papers on the table and slumped in Shannon's previously vacated chair.

"You're right. The evidence is circumstantial, at best. We could bring them in for questioning but as soon as they'd lawyer up, they'd be out of there. I do understand where you're coming from though. I remember this case. It was right before I became the official ADA for Special Victim's."

Elliot sat forward and rested on his elbows. "Yeah, everyone had a hard time prosecuting Saxon. At the end I started to agree with you thinking he was innocent."

"Munch said the same thing. I think you were right in fingering the fathers."

"Would've been great if we had any evidence at the time." Olivia groused.

Greg leaned on a hand as he flipped through Sam's sketchbook. "You mean like now?"

Any further conversation was cut off as Grissom's cell went off. He spoke to the dispatcher for a few seconds and then turned to the table. "Dead body was found in the lake. Who wants it?"

Greg quickly stood, wanting to get out and actually do something besides look at information. "I'll go."

Sara stood too. "I'll keep Greggo out of trouble."

"Besides," She said as Olivia and Elliot went to stand. "You guys have some catching up to do. You coming Brass?"

The older man heaved himself out of his chair and waved silently to everyone as the trio left.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

Brass stood on the edge of Lake Mead looking at two very wet 16-year-old girls. One stood about 5'6" and was rail thin with long black hair and chocolate eyes. The other was short, maybe 5'2" and curvy with choppy brown hair and amber eyes. Both had embarrassed looks and tried not to make eye contact with the Captain.

"So Lynn," He turned to the taller one. "Exactly what were you and Alexis doing out here?"

"Swimming."

Brass waited a beat for more information and then said blandly. "Aren't you the talkative one? Why were you out swimming at 11:00 at night?"

She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "Youth group camping trip."

"Mm-hm. That's a decent walk through the woods from the campground. What instigated this little bout of nighttime trekking?"

Lynn blushed deep red for a second before turning to the other girl in askance.

Alexis just shook her head. "Oh no, you tell him. It was your idea."

Lynn chewed her bottom lip and looked down at her feet as her toes dug in the gritty sand. Alexis rolled her eyes.

"Gawd. You're such a weenie. We were going to meet up with our boyfriends and do a little skinny-dipping."

"Not very modest, huh?" Brass quipped.

"You try living in a house with three other females and multiple animals. No privacy whatsoever."

"That's you; I'm an only child, you dork." Lynn mumbled.

Brass smirked at Alexis. "Point taken. So where are these mystery boys?"

Lynn mimicked Alexis' eye-roll. "Thomas, Al's boyfriend, got sick when we found her and Donny, my boyfriend, ran when he heard the cars pull up. I guess he's got some history with you guys."

"So why didn't you guys follow suit when you saw the dead body?" Sara said as she pulled off her gloves with a snap.

Lynn crossed her arms over her chest. "Not any worse than some of the stuff at my clinicals. I'm going to be a nurse."

"Same here." Alexis pointed a finger at where Greg was crouched over the body. "Although, it is about as gross as that charred cadaver that Mr. Phillips let us see."

Lynn made a face. "Where did David get that one? It smelled gross."

"You guys know Super Dave?" Sara asked, surprised.

Lynn smiled slightly. "Cousin."

"So, your boys are gone?" Brass tried to steer the conversation back to the problem at hand.

Alexis leaned back and looked at the small copse of trees a few feet away. "Hey Donny! It's safe. They're not gonna confiscate your pot stash. And bring Tom with you if he's done tasting his s'mores again."

A lanky brunette with dark brown eyes stumbled out from behind a tree in only a pair of boxers. He pulled an equally lanky blond in the same state of undress behind him. Thomas, the blond, had green eyes that matched his green tinged skin. Donny looked pissed.

"I don't have a pot stash."

Lynn elbowed Alexis. "You know he gave that up months ago."

"Right…" Alexis sounded unconvinced. "Tom, tell 'em what happened."

Thomas took a few deep, fortifying though shaky breaths. "Don and I were getting ready to jump in with the girls when Alexis yells that we need to call 911. When I caught sight of her…"

He turned even greener and ran pell-mell for the woods. Donny scowled as he pulled his pants on. "Tom barfed as soon as he caught sight of her. I picked up the phone after he dropped it and called the cops."

"So why'd you run when we showed up?"

The brunette shrugged. "Habit."

"And for some reason, Lynn still wants to date him."

"Shut up, Al!" Lynn hissed.

"You guys touch anything?" Brass raised an eyebrow.

"Please. We watch enough crime shows to know not to do that."

"Thanks. If you think of anything that might be pertinent, call this number." Brass said as he handed them his card. "And if you head back to the campsite now, I won't be telling your pastor and parents what you were doing out here."

Alexis gave him a brief smile and went to collect her boyfriend as Donny and Lynn slowly meandered back to their youth group.

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About a half-hour later Sara stood across an autopsy table from Dr. Robbins and David Phillips.

"You just missed the family reunion, Dave."

David frowned at her.

"Brass and I met your cousin Lynn. You showed up right after she left. She was one of the kids who found the body."

David smiled ever so slightly. "She was the one who always got into trouble. Can't say I'm surprised. Is she still hanging out with, um…what's-her-name? Alexis, or something like that."

"Yeah. What a pair."

"Not to interrupt this fascinating conversation but I have a dinner date with my wife and I'd kind of like to get there on time for once." Robbins interjected.

"Sorry Doc. So what's the verdict?"

"She's only been dead four hours. Broken neck. From the bruising on her jaw I'd say someone grabbed her head from behind and gave it a quick, sharp twist." Robbins said as he picked up the head to demonstrate.

"Anything tell us who the guy was?"

"Not really. She was raped; lots of fluid, too. And I did find some scrapings under her fingernails. I sent it all with Greg to Trace. Whoever this guy was, he was big and rough. She's got bruising on her upper arms and pelvis to match the ones on her jaw."

"You get an ID on her?"

"I zipped the prints to Jackie and she sent them through CODIS. She e-mailed me back." Robbins handed him the printout.

Sara scanned it. "Name's Tia Elan. Stripper. The only reason she's in the system is she got caught two months ago for possession. She got off easy because she was a minor."

Olivia stuck her head in the door. "Hey, you almost done?"

"Why don't you guys work on the case without me? I think this one's gonna take a while."

"Anything I can do to help move it a little faster?" Olivia said as she made her way in the room.

She stopped short when she saw the body and pulled out her phone. "Hey, Elliot…Yeah, I'm in the morgue. You might want to come down here. It's about Sara and Greg's case."

Then she took a picture of the corpse with her phone and sent it with a text saying, 'Look familiar?' to Munch and Warner.

"Can I ask what's going on?"

Olivia turned to Robbins. "Sorry. My partner and I've been here a week and we've never met. Detective Olivia Benson."

He shook her outstretched hand. "Dr. Al Robbins. So you're one of the detectives they sent in. New York, right? That would mean you know George Huang."

Before she could answer Elliot wandered in. "Where's the fire?"

"Dr. Robbins," Sara said, motioning to Olivia's partner. "Elliot Stabler."

Elliot shook the Doc's hand distractedly as Olivia snapped on a pair of gloves and pulled Ms. Elan's sheet back all the way. "Bring back memories El?"

The detective slowly dragged a hand through his hair. "Oh, shit."

About that time Greg rushed in, obviously excited. "You're never gonna guess whose DNA was all over our corpse."


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14:**

"One Ms. Tia Elan was raped and probably killed by our very own Lieutenant David Century. Who, by the way, owns a .45 caliber semi-automatic, military issue handgun." Greg practically crowed.

Elliot dropped his head into his hands and spat out the same raunchy expletive about four or five times.

"What?" Greg looked a little perturbed that his information didn't go over as well as he'd expected.

Olivia was morose. "Tell everyone to meet us down in the basement and we'll explain."

Greg gave a cursory nod and headed out, followed out shortly by Sara and David. Dr. Robbins shut the deceased in her drawer and headed out for his hot date with his wife leaving only Olivia and Elliot.

"It's all our fault Liv. We could've stopped it before it even started." Elliot said as they headed down the hall.

Olivia's only response was to reach out and briefly squeeze his hand in sympathy and then let go just as quickly.

When they reached the basement, everyone else sat around the table or on the couch with saddened looks. Sam's sketchbook sat closed before her, as did Catherine's magazine, and Nick and Warrick's Gameboys were turned off. The room was deathly silent.

Sara brought her legs to her chest, wrapped his arms around them, and propped her chin on her knees. "Detective Munch just called. He told us most everything. Greg and Diana…I mean Alex, filled in the blanks."

Alex actually looked about ready to crawl into a hole in the wall as Elliot dropped beside her on the couch. "So now you know."

"We got bits and pieces from Munch and Alex. They said you guys were primaries on the case. So what's the whole story?" Greg asked.

Elliot slumped back on the couch as he started the story. "Seven years ago the bodies of Christine Century and Julia Anderson were found in the Hudson. Their fathers, David Century and Michael Anderson, were the first suspects. There was no tangible proof, though, and they had alibis. About the time we were going to give up, Warner called and said she found a hair from Christine's boyfriend. It seemed like a godsend at the time. He had no alibi and his DNA was on her. So, Alex prosecuted him and sent him to jail. Something about it didn't feel right at the time but it was already too late."

Olivia picked up from there. "Five years later, Todd Saxon, the boyfriend, gets out on parole and is shot one week later. The fathers are again our first suspects, but they have alibis…each other."

Alex nodded in agreement. "Two years and eleven murders later we finally catch up with these guys, and we still have nothing to bring them in on."

"It's not your fault man." Nick started.

"That's bullshit."

Everyone turned to look at Olivia as she slouched in her chair in defeat.

"We had those guys under suspicion from day one for the rapes of their daughters and then the murder of Todd Saxon. All we had to do was lock them up. And instead…"

"Instead we sent Todd Saxon, an innocent man to jail and probably to his death and left those two loose on the streets." Alex finished.

Warrick slid a folder across the table to Olivia. "Well, then here's your chance for redemption. We have enough to bring Century in for the rape."

Elliot scrubbed a hand over his face. "But not the murder. And there's nothing on Anderson."

"But it's a start." Tasha said as she twisted a hank of hair into a painfully tight looking knot.

Sam took her glasses off and pinched the bridge of her nose. "If we play our cards right we might…and I emphasize might…be able to get 'em on the rest."

Warrick eagerly leaned forward on his elbows. "All we have to do is get them to tip their hand."

"And we need something plausibly possible to get a judge to sign a warrant. I think I can get Judge Edson to sign one, she owes me a favor." Grissom said as he scratched at his beard.

Brass raised an eyebrow.

"I got rid of a pest problem for her." Grissom simply stated.

A smile pulled at the corners of Sara's mouth. "I wondered how you suddenly got a huge terrarium full of fire ants in your office in one weekend."

Catherine smirked. "And of course you didn't think to tell her it was a pleasure to take them off her hands."

Grissom smiled benignly and linked his fingers over his stomach. "On the contrary I told her it was no trouble at all but she insisted that she owed me one. I think she meant something along the lines of dinner though, but this will do."

Shannon's brow furrowed. "Isn't Judge Edson married?"

Greg let out a chuckle and his eyebrows went up in disbelief. "Grissom, you sly dog you. Letting that poor woman think you were interested in her."

Grissom snorted. "You think I led Judge Edson on? That 'poor woman', as you call her, practically accosted me. I tried to get away from her as soon as I was done."

"Yeah, you tried really hard." Brass snickered and Grissom sent him a dirty look.

Jen stood and put her sunglasses on. She pulled a pair of handcuffs from the small of her back and twirled them around a finger.

"How about we bring the Lieutenant and Commander in for questioning?"

"But we've only got enough to bring Century in." Tasha said.

"We might be able to get Anderson as an accessory. If what Huang said is right, then he's going to be Century's alibi." Elliot replied.

Sara handed Grissom the phone. "While they go get the suspects, how about you call Judge Edson?"

Grissom groaned and reluctantly took the phone from her.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

Grissom looked through the one-way glass. On the other side Commander Anderson paced back and forth, twisting his wedding band around his finger. Lieutenant Century sat calmly; his forearms braced on the table and his face carefully schooled in a blank expression as he watched Anderson pace.

"Human are a puzzlin' species. At times they're vengeful and aren't but cold-blooded killers and other times, peace lovin'. Sometimes they spill over with emotion and yet they still search fer pure logic."

Elliot, who stood next to Grissom, turned to look at Sam. "Shakespeare?"

She grinned ruefully and held her hand up in the Vulcan sign of greeting. "Uh-uh. Star Trek."

Elliot grinned back and inclined his head towards the interrogation room. "I guess it's time for someone to talk to them."

Grissom grabbed his arm and shook his head. "Not you Elliot. You're far too emotional. Ms. Cabot and Brass will do the initial interrogation."

Elliot almost threw a retort back at the older man but then thought better of it and curled his hands into fists in his pockets. "You're right. I'm…gonna get some coffee. You guys want any."

"Always." Sam said as she looped an arm through his. "Let's see if we can find Greg's stash of Blue Hawaiian. Accordin' to the lab, it's the best."

Grissom watched silently as Sam chatted with Elliot down the hall and then turned back to the proceedings behind the glass.

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Anderson had finally sat down next to Century and across from Alex as Brass flipped on a recorder and spoke briefly into it before setting it in the middle of the table.

"You gentlemen understand your rights as they've been read to you?"

They both gave affirmative answers.

"Now, can you tell me where you two were last night around 7:00?" Brass asked.

"In our hotel room." Century said without missing a beat.

Anderson nodded in agreement. "Um, exactly what's this all about Captain Brass?"

Brass tossed a photo of Tia Elan on the table in front of the two men. Century merely glanced at it and Anderson's eyes widened for the briefest of seconds.

Alex quickly grew frustrated with the situation as Century claimed his Fifth Amendment right and Anderson stuttered on in embarrassment and rage. Without saying a word she stowed the files and left the interrogation to Brass. She motioned to Shannon to take over for her as soon as she was on the other side of the door.

She stood silently between Grissom and Catherine as they watched Brass and Shannon try to work the two men over.

"This is going nowhere." Catherine griped.

"I don't know about that." Grissom mused. "Did you see the way they looked at the photos?"

Alex dug them out and looked at the pictures thoughtfully. "Century barely spared them a glance and Anderson's eyes kept involuntarily flicking back to them."

"Exactly. Before Brass and you entered the room, Mr. Anderson was pacing fitfully while Mr. Century sat, completely oblivious to his surroundings. I think we need to split them up to get the answers we need."

Alex tapped a fingernail on the photos. "Of course. Get the submissive away from the dominant and he'll be more liable to crack under pressure."

"That is, if he knows anything." Catherine said as she went to ready another interrogation room.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16:**

Commander Anderson fidgeted fitfully in his chair as Catherine left Interrogation 2 to find Grissom. In Interrogation 1, Lieutenant Century walked over to the mirror and gently tapped it with a knuckle.

"Is this going to take much longer? I need to check in with my superior for our next assignment."

Olivia stood on the other side of the glass with Nick, reading through Century's file. Nick rocked back on his heels. "I wonder why he's only a Lieutenant and Anderson's a Commander? They've been in the service for the same length of time, haven't they?"

"Says here he was 'deemed unfit to proceed up the chain of command.' The base psychologist said he has some sociopathic tendencies."

"It's amazin' he's so calm considerin' what we're accusin' him of. All he cares about is how long this is gonna take."

"One of the things about a sociopath is that they have a defunct conscience, of sorts. All they care about is themselves and what they get out of it in the end, no matter the means." Olivia said as Century leaned close to the glass right in front of her, as if he could see the detectives.

"Sounds like you're pretty sure he did it."

"I'm sure he killed Elan, and maybe his buddy Anderson's daughter and his own kid. All his superiors said he was violent."

"What about the shootin's?"

"I don't know. It just doesn't seem like his thing."

Sara wandered over with Anderson's file in hand. "I think Anderson actually started this whole serial thing. Since Century is his friend, he was probably pulled in from the first alibi."

"I guess he thought he was gettin' rid of the evidence." Nick said as he watched Century relax back in his seat.

Catherine found her way over to the small group. "Have you seen Grissom? He and Brass are supposed to take Anderson."

"Have we figured out who's taking Century?" Olivia asked.

Nick crossed his arms over his chest. "You and Elliot seem to know him the best and you guys have to deal with rapists all the time. Our best bet is you two but what about Elliot?"

"I think…" Olivia pushed a hand through her hair. "I really don't know. He did say he wanted a piece of them."

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Half an hour later they'd found Elliot and Grissom in the break room and had dragged them to the interrogation rooms.

Grissom and Brass played 'good cop, bad cop' with Anderson. Brass kept getting Anderson's face, making him even more nervous so he stumbled over his words while Grissom talked to him in a calm voice, trying to gently pry any answers out of him. After they accused him of being Century's accomplice in their daughters' murders back in 1998 Anderson suddenly became quiet and pled the Fifth.

Olivia and Elliot made out just as well with Century. He kept his mouth shut except for when they tried to pin the rape and murder of the girls on him. Then he asked for a lawyer. He would've been out of there in record time if it hadn't been for the DNA found on Elan.

Since Century and his lawyer wouldn't give up any information Shannon simply stepped in, wrenched him out of his chair harder than was probably necessary, slapped a pair of cuffs on him, and shipped him down the hall to lockup. Sam did the same with Anderson not long after, though not quite as forcefully.

Down in lockup, Century stuck a hand outside the bars of his cell and tried to flag down Anderson at the guard's desk just down the way.

"Don't worry man. This's a buncha bullshit. We'll be outta here in no time."

As Sam led him past Century's cell the Commander's elbow suddenly met with her solarplexus and he grabbed her gun out of her hip-holster and fired a single shot into the other man's forehead. As the Lieutenant slumped against the bars and the coppery smell of blood permeated the air, Anderson dropped the gun next to Sam's bent form and turned calmly to the other detectives.

"I'm ready to talk now."

Brass blinked at him for a second before turning to Greg. "Go get Dave."

Greg nodded mutely but didn't look away from Century's lifeless form. Elliot ended up having to grab his arm and drag him towards the morgue. Brass took Anderson's elbow and led him back to Interrogation 2.

As soon as they got there, Anderson spilled everything. He told how it had all started with him shooting Saxon and then Century creating an alibi. When they'd been given recruiting duty, Century had come up with the idea of killing the other rapists and child murderers to pull suspicion away from them. Anderson had gone along with it since it seemed like a good idea. Why not rid the world of scum like that?

Elliot, Tasha, Jen and Catherine stood on the other side of the window and grimaced at his words. They were all parents and knew exactly what he was talking about.

Back in Interrogation 1, Anderson now held his head in his hands but kept talking. When the detectives had originally tried to pin the rape and murder of that Las Vegas girl on him and Century he knew he'd originally killed the wrong man. He'd know Century was a little off but not like that.

Brass stared at the man for a second before turning off the recorder. Anderson slumped in his chair as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"I'm going to get the death penalty, aren't I? I deserve to die for what I've done."

"That's up to the courts Lieutenant Anderson, not us."

He nodded and let Jen lead him back to his cell.

Everyone else stood just outside the interrogation room. Olivia's arm was around Elliot's shoulders as he started coldly into space; he still felt guilty about the whole thing. Catherine and Tasha watched with empathetic looks as Anderson was led past. Everyone else just seemed to be relieved that it was finally over.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17:**

Not a few hours later Nick and Warrick walked into the locker room to find the women loitering around, for lack of a better verb. Alex was helping Jen safety pin the seams on a shirt Sara had pulled on inside out. Catherine was modeling Sam's cowboy hat to herself in the mirror. Olivia and Shannon were putting makeup on in the same mirror while Sam French-braided Tasha's hair.

"What's going on?" Warrick said as he tried to make his way to his locker.

Sam tied off the end of Tasha's braid. "We're gettin' outta here. Catherine and Shannon said they'd show us where to go to have a good time in Vegas."

"We made them promise us nothing too cheesy." Jen said from under Sara's extended arm.

"What exactly are you doin' here, then?" Nick asked as he watched Alex pull out needle and thread from Jen's carryall.

"You don't expect us to go out in our work clothes do you?" Catherine asked.

Warrick pointed at Sara and her entourage. "What's with that then?"

Sara sighed as Alex put a few quick stitches in the shirt and then handed the needle to Jen. "According to the fashion police, I had to change my top. It wasn't nice enough for them. I didn't have anything so I borrowed this from Shannon. They had to take it in a little."

She scowled as the men chuckled and Jen shuttled her off around the lockers to turn her shirt right side out. Greg boogied his way in, caught sight of the women, and pulled his ear buds out. "Headed out for a night on the town, ladies?"

Shannon looped an arm through his. "Yep. Wanna come?"

"I'm always ready for a night out with a bunch of beautiful women."

"What're we? Chopped liver." Nick asked incredulously.

"All y'all can come as long as you behave yerselves." Sam said, rescuing her hat from Catherine.

"I'm making sure to bring Elliot. How about you guys round up Grissom and Brass? Tell them it's mandatory on pain of death and a pile of paperwork." Olivia joked.

The three men saluted sharply and dispersed. A few minutes later Brass, Grissom, and Elliot were hauled into the locker room, cuffed. They stood there, glaring at the women.

Tasha held up her hands in defense. "Hey don't look at us; the handcuffs were their idea, not ours."

Olivia walked over to Elliot and began fixing his shirt. "I'd say we take advantage of the situation and get them ready for tonight, ladies."

Sara and Jen eagerly agreed and went to work on Brass and Grissom. Grissom started to splutter and found himself backed into a locker.

"Don't fight us Grissom. You're going with us whether you like it or not. If I have to go, you have to go." Sara said as she slid his glasses off and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt.

Brass opened his mouth to say something but Jen beat him to the punch. "Don't try pulling rank dude. We don't care because half of us don't work for you and you're coming no matter what you say."

Elliot gave a resigned sigh and allowed Olivia to divest him of his tie and the cuffs. Grissom and Brass' cuffs followed after they agreed to go with little argument.

They trooped to the hall only to be stopped by Conrad Ecklie.

"And where do you all think you're off to?"

"We're just going out for a little bit. I think we deserve it." Catherine answered.

"And who's going to man the lab, I ask you?" Ecklie asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Grissom looked at his watch. "Day shift started an hour ago, Conrad. We have no reason to be here and you have no reason to stop us."

"Besides, you can't fire us. We don't work for you." Olivia said as she looped an arm through Elliot's. Alex took his other and they proceeded to lead him down the hall.

Tasha and Jen each grabbed one of Brass' arms. "Us too."

"Same here." Sam said as Nick slung an arm round her shoulders.

"Don't forget me." Shannon said as she grabbed Greg's hand and pulled him down the hall with the others.

Warrick wrapped an arm around Catherine's waist. "We'll be seeing you."

That left Grissom and Sara. "Don't worry. We'll have our pagers and phones on if anything huge comes up."

Grissom offered his arm to Sara. "Shall we?"

Sara took the proffered arm and they followed everyone else out the door much to Ecklie chagrin.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18:**

Everyone clambered into their cars and followed Catherine and Shannon as they made their way to the other end of Tropicana Avenue. There, just on the edge of town was a small club called **_Heaven Cent_**. A few large neon stars gracing the two-story building glowed faintly in the dim morning light.

Catherine explained a friend of hers, Penny, another former stripper, owned it. She'd dubbed the club with her old stage name as a joke and it just seemed to stick.

A formidable looking bouncer stood guard at the door and she walked right up to the mountain of a man, cutting in front of a dozen people, and pulled him into a hug.

"Beauregard. Still knockin' heads and bustin' balls?"

"_Mon cher_! How you doin' girl?" He said in a sweet Louisiana accent. "Here for pleasure and not business, I hope?"

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Purely pleasure, Beau. I'm out with a bunch of co-workers looking for a good time. You think you could let us in?"

"For you _mes petite_, anythin'. You want me to tell Penny you here?"

She gave him an affirmative and dragged everyone in as Beauregard unhooked the rope and flipped open a cell phone. Catherine was practically mowed down when she made it in. She and Penny talked and hugged for a few minutes before introductions went around.

"You're timings impeccable as always, Cath. It's Ladies' Night…or I should say Day." She said as she glanced at her watch. "I'll take the guys to the bar. All you girls go have fun."

The women waved the men off and headed for the dance floor. When Catherine hopped up on stage, Shannon and Tasha quickly followed while the rest looked on questioningly.

"Come on! It's Ladies' Night. That means we can dance up here with the band."

Sam, Jen, and Alex needed no further invitation and climbed up on the expansive stage while Olivia and Sara hung behind. The other six women egged them on until Jen and Alex jumped down and bodily hauled the reluctant females up with the rest.

They finally gave in to the pulsing music and danced with gusto and waved at the men. They dutifully waved back with the exception of Greg and Nick, who managed to climb on the stage with them and dance for a bit before Penny and another bouncer fireman-carried them back down to the main floor telling them it was strictly ladies only.

Everyone was having fun and Olivia and Sara were even laughing at Jen and Tasha's antics when a hand snaked up and stuck a twenty in the top of Catherine's pants.

"Take it OFF!"

The eight women immediately stopped and stared at the man.

"Excuse me?" Catherine said.

Another man reached up and stuck a fifty in Shannon's pants. "You heard him. Take it off!"

Tasha slapped at the first man's hand as he tried to stick money in the top of her skirt and Shannon and Catherine threw the bills back at them. They weaved drunkenly for a second before their faces screwed up in anger.

"Why you bitch!" They cried as they grabbed Shannon and Catherine's ankle.

They each drew back their other legs to kick at the offenders just as Sam and Olivia's fists crashed into the men's jaws. The businessmen crumpled to the floor.

Shannon stomped her foot. "Hey! He was mine."

Three other men in similar business suits and equally as drunk made their way over to help their friends.

"I don't think that's gonna matter in a minute." Olivia mumbled as she scrambled back up on stage with Sam.

Across the room, the guys noticed they were in trouble and started to make their way across the room just as the women lashed out in self-defense. Nick, Greg, Brass, and Grissom grabbed two of the drunks and hauled them off the stage just as the third yelled out.

"**FIGHT!**"

There was no stopping what happened next. The dance club turned into a free-for-all in three seconds flat. The law-enforcement officials each pulled out their respective badges except for Alex (who was just a lawyer, after all) and began to pull people off one another.

This had practically no effect and the fight continued until Shannon pulled her clutch piece from her ankle holster and shot it at the ceiling.

--BANG!--

That got everyone's attention.

"Alright people! This is the police. Now either shape up or I'll have Mr. Beauregard ship you out like these assholes."

Shannon motioned at the five passed out businessmen that Beauregard and another bouncer had started to drag out of the club. Catherine apologized profusely to Penny and everyone headed for the parking lot, also apologizing.

The ride back to the station house was uneventful and they all stood in the parking lot looking a bit bored after that whole ordeal.

"Looks like the night's ruined." Warrick said.

"Not necessarily. We could have our own little party." Alex supplied.

Greg tugged at Nick's sleeve. "Holy shindig! You know what that means Batman."

Nick pumped a fist in the air. "To the Batmobile, Robin!"

They both dived for Nick's car, calling out the window that they'd be back soon with beer and the like.

Shannon turned to Sam. "So how about we get some munchies Hawkgirl?"

"Sounds good to me Supergirl. What say you, Wonderwoman?" She turned to Catherine.

The redhead held up her keys. "Let's go find my invisible jet."

Everyone else just snickered and Grissom even grinned as they headed back to the basement.


	20. Chapter 19

Gotta love Thanksgiving break. We actually found some time to get together and write a chappie. IT'S A MIRACLE!

**Chapter 19:**

That evening Bobby, Mia, and David found almost all of them passed out in various poses around the room.

Nick was spread eagle on the floor with Sam using his stomach as a makeshift pillow. Tasha and Jen were curled up in two of the leather conference chairs as if they slept like that all the time.

Elliot slouched at the end of one of the couches while Olivia leaned against his shoulder and Alex took the other end and draped her legs across their laps. Catherine and Warrick had ended up spooning on the loveseat. The three couldn't help but chuckle when they saw that Warrick's long legs stuck out over one end.

On the couch by the ping-pong table, Grissom had taken one end, his chin resting on his chest. Sara was sprawled out on the middle two cushions with her head pillowed on his leg. Grissom had somehow gotten his fingers tangled in her hair in his sleep.

Brass sat awake at the other end watching the Discovery Channel's special, '**_The Science of Star Wars_**' with Archie.

The three voyeurs had the (not) wonderful job of waking up the hung over detectives and criminalists.

Shannon, Sam, Jen, Olivia, and Greg shot for the bathroom as soon as their eyes were open. Catherine blinked blearily at them and went to call Lindsey. Warrick and Nick mumbled sleepily and automatically headed for the PS2. Alex and Elliot grunted and headed upstairs for coffee.

Tasha, on the other hand, perked right up and grinned at everyone who merely grimaced at her bright smile.

"How can you be so…**_perky_** this morning? You drank a whole frickin' six-pack last night." Greg groused as he wiped his mouth walking back from the bathroom.

"I'm one of those few weirdos who doesn't get much of a hangover. The alcohol just helps me sleep easier." Tasha replied as she trotted up the stairs for coffee.

Grissom snored gently from where he still slept on the couch and Brass reached over and punched him in the shoulder to wake him. He jerked awake which in turn woke Sara. They stared at each other for a few minutes without saying a word before trying to untangle her curly hair from his stiff fingers.

Olivia, Elliot, Tasha, and Jen's flights weren't until the next morning so everyone sat at the conference table and tried to finish their paperwork and get over their hangovers.

Jen idly gnawed on the earpiece of her sunglasses as she studied the paper in front of her. "Have we figured out who gets Anderson?"

Brass propped his head up with his hand. "I don't know. We all had a hand in it. It's not like we can divide him up between the four precincts."

"Well, we have…" Elliot looked at his watch. "Eight hours till we leave to figure this out."

Shannon looked over at her friend. "So what happens to you after this is all over?"

Alex looked morose. "I get folded back into Witness Protection. I talked to Federal Marshall Hammond and he said I could at least say goodbye this time."

Tasha suddenly stopped twisting her hair and blinked at the ceiling. "Why don't we just hand over Anderson to the Feds? I mean, they're out to get him too. So, why not just hand him over to the government and give everyone else some credit in the deal. Then we won't have to worry about him."

"It's feasible, but the other precincts aren't gonna be happy." Catherine mused.

SVUCSISVUCSISVUCSISVUCSI

A half-hour later everyone was still sitting around the conference table, only now the paperwork was gone and was replaced with a speakerphone. The voices of the sheriffs from the New Jersey, Georgia, Missouri, and Arizona precincts could be heard over the line. And they were not happy.

"This is ridiculous!" The nasally New Jersey sheriff exclaimed.

"Quite right." Added Arizona's sheriff.

"Why should you get all the credit?" Asked the sheriff from Missouri.

"It's not like those madmen didn't do enough damage on their own. Now you have to cut us outta their capture?" The Georgia sheriff practically spat out.

"You had a chance to get in on the action." Catherine replied.

"But…but, we had no idea…" Spluttered Arizona.

"Of course you didn't think we'd capture them after they evaded your…valiant attempts." Grissom monotoned.

"Exactly." Missouri said. "Hey! Wait a minute."

New Jersey jumped in. "Yes. We provided valuable information…"

"And gave you everythin' we had on the cases." Georgia added.

"Documents we already had. Sorry, but too little, too late." Brass said as he hung up on them.

"You know, that was really rude man." Warrick admonished even though he grinned widely.

A smile pulled at the corners of Tasha's mouth. "They did try to help. We should at least give them an honorable mention."


	21. Chapter 20

Finals are finally over.  
YAY!  
This is the last official chappie but there might be an epilogue.

**Chapter 20:**

The one thing they didn't realize was that Conrad Ecklie and Sheriff Rory Atwater had set up a news conference with local and national television and newspaper journalists. It ended up being a few hours before Elliot, Olivia, Jen, and Tasha were to catch their flights so the detectives and criminalists had to rush it a bit.

They recounted what they legally could of the case and dutifully answered the questions thrown at them. Greg, of course, had to crack some joke about him 'never having to do so much research since high school'. Grissom knew that was going to show up in the news ad verbatim.

After the questions about the newly dubbed 'Nationwide Serial Murders' had been answered, credit had been given where credit was due, and the national news crews left, a local journalist stood up and asked them about the bar fight at **_Heaven Cent_** the previous morning.

Tasha sat forward and calmly folded her hands over her crossed legs. "I don't know what rumors have been going around, but early yesterday morning we all were unwillingly pulled into a small mishap started by a group of inebriated tourists. The Vegas Police Department, New York, Chicago, and Houston PD's along with ourselves and the tourists have apologized profusely to the owner. We have also offered to pay out-of-pocket for any reparations needed to the business. The owner has declined the offer, saying that no actual damage was done."

The reporters all nodded and murmured they're appreciation before leaving. Ecklie stood just inside the door to the station and nodded his approval to his staff and the visiting detectives.

"Very impressive. This'll look nice for Vegas law enforcement."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "You think that was impressive? He's obviously never had to deal with the New York press."

"As to Sanders…" Ecklie managed to get out.

Grissom clapped the young man on the shoulder. "I think he did quite well Conrad. He gave the case a more…human aspect."

Before Ecklie could say anything else, everyone trooped back out to the parking lot to head for the airport.

Arriving there, they all just stood in the terminal not sure what to say. The men had all shook hands and now idled with their hands in their pockets or crossed over their chests while they waited for the women to say their goodbyes.

Catherine tentatively shook Tasha's hand. "It was…nice to meet you."

"Same here. Though, I suppose we didn't start off on the right foot."

"We're like oil and vinegar. We go good together, but we don't mix." Catherine smirked.

Tasha returned the smile while Olivia and Shannon wrapped their arms around Alex in sad hug.

"Why is it that every time I move somewhere else, you and Elliot seem to find me?" Alex sniffled a bit.

"We're like bad pennies. We just keep turning up."

"How long till you leave?" Shannon asked as she finally let Alex go.

"She has until Detectives Benson, Stabler, Alexander, and Lieutenant Linn step onto their planes." A man said, walking up the group.

"Detectives and criminalists, I present to you Federal Marshall Hammond." Alex introduced in a sad monotone.

Elliot shook the man's hand. "You'll take care of her, right?"

"I'll do my best." Hammond said as his phone began to ring. He listened for a few seconds without talking and then snapped it shut with the flick of his wrist.

"A change of plans?" Grissom asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Something like that." The Marshall said in a low voice so the civilians milling around the terminal wouldn't hear.

"You all might find this interesting. It seems that one Caesar Valez was found down in Columbia and is now being transported back to the states. And a Liam Connor was also found beaten to death in his cell. Apparently he pissed off a few of the more…physical inmates."

Alex let out a cry and Olivia and Elliot caught her as her knees buckled.

Shannon's brow furrowed with worry. "What does all that mean?"

"I-It m-m-means…It means that I-I can go h-home." Alex said shakily as the now obviously happy tears trailed down her face.

Olivia clasped Alex's hands in her own. "So, we'll see you in New York in…"

"Three weeks. That should be long enough to hand in my resignation and pack up my stuff. I'll need to get tickets and…but what am I going to do for a job when I get there?"

"You mean you haven't heard?" Elliot asked.

She shook her head.

"DA Elizabeth Donnelly, your old boss, is now Judge Donnelly." Olivia said.

"We could put in a good word for you." Elliot added. "Although, I'm sure Arthur Branch would love to have you back."

Alex giggled. "Shannon, I think I'm gonna need your help."

"I don't know if I want to help you. After all, I probably won't see you again."

"You never know. There's always a chance we'll meet up again. This is Vegas after all." Warrick said.

"So says the gamblin' man. He would know the odds." Nick quipped as he wrapped a genial arm around Jen and Sam's shoulders.

"Things that happen by chance are events in search of a cause. K. C. Cole." Grissom rattled off.

The women morosely ducked out from under Nick's arm.

"Well, I'm gonna hafta cut all this short. I promised my Cap'n I'd be back afore sundown. And so, I'll leave y'all with somethin' Victor Bogre said: Laughter is the closest distance between two people. So… " Sam said as she handed out her business card to everyone. "This is my number and e-mail. Please call or write me. I know we haven't know each other long but…I think I'm really gonna miss y'all."

Nick looked down at the card in his hand and opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out.

Sara chuckled as she traded business cards along with everyone else. "Speaking requires the effort of 72 different muscles. Apparently none of Nicky's are working."

Everyone said goodbye one last time and Elliot, Olivia, Jen, and Tasha all headed for their planes home. Nick walked Sam out to her truck while Alex headed for her apartment with Shannon's arm around her shoulders, her eyes shining with hope. Catherine said something about having to go see Lindsey and everyone else headed either home or to work.


	22. Epilogue

Thanks the winter break, this story is officially done. Keep an eye out for the sequel though. If you have any ideas, speak up, we can always use more.

**Epilogue:**

April 2005, Las Vegas

Detective Martin sat in front of a computer with Sara, instant messaging people and giggling with hilarity. Sophia Curtis walked behind them, hitched a box higher on her hip, and looked over their shoulders.

Sara, feeling her presence, looked up at Sophia.

"Hey, what's with the box? You goin' somewhere?"

"To my new office." Sophia said with a slight smile.

Shannon frowned. "New office?"

"I've been moved. I'm back to being a detective in Homicide. Which is what I wanted in the first place."

"Congratulations." Sara said with complete sincerity.

Grissom wandered by with a box under each arm. Greg followed close behind with boxes of his own.

Sara raised an eyebrow. "Are you moving to a new office too, Grissom?"

Grissom looked at her and then the boxes under his arms. "Oh…no. I'm just helping Sophia move."

"Me too." Greg piped up from behind the stack of boxes in his arms.

Grissom leaned over Sara's shoulder to clearly see the computer screen. "Who are _BronxBabe_ and _Cowgirl70_?"

"_Cowgirl70_ is Detective Tracy and _BronxBabe_ is Detective Benson. Sam was just telling us about her cat and her new boyfriend." Shannon answered.

"Since you're talking to Detective Benson, would you ask her where there's good place to stay in Manhattan." Grissom said as he tried not to drop his boxes.

Shannon gave him a confused look. "I thought you were famous for not taking vacations."

"I'm not going on a vacation." Grissom said with a sigh. "I have to go to a teamwork seminar in December. I'm a speaker."

"I guess Warrick was right." Sara said to Shannon.

"How's that?" Sophia asked.

Shannon smiled slightly at the computer screen. "There's always a chance in Vegas."

SVUCSI

Thanks to **csismylover**, **Jessica Summers**, **MyBella131**, **Lanna-Nailo**, **shakeahand55**, charmed1818, Jaime L., **crystalphoenix**, **chickiidoo**, Nom de Reseau, **Bookworm0485**, **sandycritter**, and **Darcy Brandon** for reviewing.


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